Squads for First NAB Cup Match Announced

Richmond, Hawthorn and North Melbourne have announced their line-ups for the first night of the 2012 NAB Cup (Source: AFL)

Hawthorn, Richmond and North Melbourne have announced their squads for the first NAB Cup fixture, to be played this Friday night (17th), with each team missing one of its stars due to injury.

Jarryd Roughead, Daniel Wells and Brett Deledio will be the big names missing from the triple header, with the three clubs fielding nearly full strength teams otherwise.

A number of new recruits will get their first chance in Friday’s matches, with Hawthorn’s Bradley Hill, Jordan Kelly and Alex Woodward joining Richmond’s Steven Morris, Brandon Ellis, Todd Elton and Matthew Arnold, as well as North Melbourne’s Cameron Delaney, Sam Gibson, and Brad Mangan.

The most hype arguably exists around Morris, who was traded from Greater Western Sydney for pick 14 in last year’s trade period.

The Tigers have high hopes for Morris, the twenty-three year old son of former Richmond great Kevin Morris, who is versatile enough to line up in either defence or attack.

The round 1 series of matches, to be played at Etihad stadium, will feature all three power forwards from the participating clubs, with Lance Franklin, Drew Petrie and Jack Riewoldt all named.

The matches will be televised live on Fox Footy, following the station’s official launch at 5pm AEDST on Friday (17th).